Double Team
by xxLittle Black Dressxx
Summary: Addison and Jake spend the day taking care of a sick Henry.


A/N: I can't get enough of Addison and Jake – they're so sweet together. And, as much as I've been liking the most recent episodes of Private Practice, I miss Jaddison. The lack of Jaddison (and the couple's awesomeness) pretty much inspired this one-shot. I hope you like it and, as always, thanks so much for reading!

* * *

**Double Team**

_The strength of the team is each individual member.  
__The strength of each individual member is the team.  
__-Phil Jackson _

Addison tiredly rubbed her eyes, as the sound of Henry's cries over the baby-monitor ripped her from her sleep. She felt the bed shift slightly as Jake, who had been sleeping next to her, moved to get up to check on Henry.

"It's okay," Addison said, reaching out, and gently placing a hand on her fiancé's bicep. "I've got it."

"You sure?" Jake asked sleepily.

"Yeah," Addison nodded, letting her hand slide down Jake's arm, and squeezing his hand reassuringly.

"Okay," Jake agreed, as Addison made her way out of their bedroom and into Henry's room.

The moment she reached into Henry's crib to pick up her crying son, she knew there was a problem. That this wasn't just Henry being a baby and not sleeping through the night. Her son was sick.

She quickly moved her hand to his head to check his temperature. He was burning up. He definitely had a fever.

"Hey, it's okay, Henry," Addison cooed soothingly, trying to calm her crying son, hoping that he wasn't picking up on the fear in her voice.

For someone who devoted her professional life to saving babies, she was surprisingly bad at this type of thing. Sure, if you needed someone to deliver and save an impossibly small preemie with underdeveloped lungs and organs, she was your best bet. But when it came sick babies outside of the hospital – babies with fevers or sniffles or sore throats – she struggled. Lucas Wilder could attest to that.

She was still trying to comfort Henry, when the sound of footsteps made her look up.

"Hey," Jake said softly, lingering in the doorway. "Is he okay?"

Addison sighed. "He's sick. He has a fever, and what looks like an ear infection. And I'm just…I'm so, so bad with sick babies."

Jake looked at her in confusion. "You do realize what you do for a living, right?"

Addison rolled her eyes. "Trust me…the irony isn't lost on me." She turned her attention back to her son, who was still whimpering softly. "Okay, Henry," she cooed, pressing a kiss to the little boy's forehead, "we're going to make you feel all better. I promise."

xxxxx

By morning, Henry wasn't feeling any better. Neither were Addison and Jake. Henry had spent most of the night awake and uncomfortable, and that meant that Addison and Jake hadn't gotten much sleep either.

Addison tiredly made her way into the kitchen, where Jake was sitting with Henry. She had hoped a shower might help wake her up, but it hadn't really helped – she still felt exhausted.

"Hey, Sweetheart," Jake greeted his fiancée with a tired smile. "Coffee?" he offered, taking in the look of exhaustion in her eyes.

"God, yes," Addison nodded, smiling her thanks when Jake handed her a steaming mug of coffee. "How's he doing?" Addison asked, gesturing towards Henry, who was in Jake's arms.

"Okay…for now," Jake answered, gently stroking Henry's back.

"You look exhausted," Addison told her fiancé sympathetically.

Jake shrugged. "I'm okay," he said nonchalantly.

"Well, at least you have a relatively easy day at work," Addison noted. "You can probably take a nap on the couch in your office before you have to meet with your patients."

Jake shook his head. "I'm not going in today. I canceled my appointments."

"Honey, you didn't have to do that," Addison insisted, touched by her fiancé's thoughtfulness. "I could have taken care of Henry on my own."

"I know you could have," Jake agreed. "But I'm part of your life now. And I'm part of Henry's life too. And you and I…we're a team now. So let me be here. I want to be here."

Addison met her fiancé's eyes and smiled. "Thank you," she said softly, leaning in and kissing Jake gently. "So," she smiled, when they broke apart, "what's the game plan?"

Jake grinned. "You were right last night…he definitely has an ear infection. And, the last time I checked, he was still running a fever. So, I was thinking that I could run out and pick up some antibiotics."

"That sounds good," Addison nodded. "And I'll give Henry a bath to try to bring his fever down and make him more comfortable."

"Go team," Jake chuckled. He turned his attention to Henry, who was tugging as his ear irritably. "You hear that, Little Guy, we're going to take good care of you. You have nothing to worry about."

xxxxx

Even though Jake assured Henry that he had nothing to worry about, Addison was still worried. The last sick baby she had taken care of was Lucas, and that hadn't exactly gone smoothly. But she remembered Dell's advice to her – _Sometimes with a sick baby it's not so much about doing something as being something_. And she vowed that she was going to try to be something for her sick son…whatever that meant.

"Okay, Henry," Addison said soothingly, as she carried her son upstairs into the bathroom. "I'm going to give you a bath, and it's going to make you feel so much better, okay?"

She ran the bathwater, placed her son in the bathtub, and waited for the hysterical crying to begin. But it didn't. Sure, Henry's eyes looked tired and droopy, and he was still grabbing his ear irritably, but he was calm. The bath seemed to be helping. And as Addison spoke to her son in soothing tones, while she gave him a bath, she liked to think that if Dell or Pete could see her – wherever they were – they'd be proud.

Jake had been right – Henry really didn't have anything to worry about. Between Addison and Jake, there was no way that Henry couldn't have not felt taken care of. There was no denying how truly loved that little boy was.

And Jake proved to be nothing short of amazing – not that Addison had ever doubted him for a second. But, still, he didn't flinch when Henry spit his antibiotics up all over him. He just rubbed the little boy's back reassuringly, and told Henry that this was nothing compared to the time that Angela had thrown up all over him after they rode Space Mountain together in Disney Land. And despite running on practically no sleep, Jake was patient and calm, and had a way of putting Henry completely at ease. And it was through watching Jake with Henry that Addison finally understood the advice that Dell had given a couple years earlier. Jake was being something for Henry. And, what's more, she knew that she was as well.

xxxxx

The day had come to an end, and Addison and Jake had finally managed to put Henry down for bed. They wearily made their way back to their own bedroom, both desperate to get some much-needed sleep.

"Thank you," Addison murmured tiredly, as she climbed into bed next to her fiancé. "Thank you for being here today."

"You don't need to thank me," Jake insisted, leaning in and kissing Addison softly. "I love Henry, and I wanted to be here for him today." He gave his fiancée a teasing smile. "I love you too, by the way."

"I know you do," Addison said, growing serious. There was no denying that Jake loved her. The beautiful, the stunning, the bitchy, the crazy. In the morning, in the afternoon, 3 pm.

"Goodnight, Sweetheart," Jake mumbled sleepily, as he turned off the light on his side of the bed.

"Goodnight," Addison smiled, turning off her light, and wrapping her arms around her fiancé. "Hey, Jake?" she whispered after a minute, unsure if he was still awake.

"Hmm?"

"I love you too."

xxxxx

Addison awoke a few hours later. When she didn't hear Henry's cries over the baby monitor, she moved to wrap her arms around Jake, but she noticed that he wasn't in their bed.

She quickly sat up and made her way out of the bedroom in search of her fiancé. She didn't have to search very long. As she quietly padded down the stairs, she could hear Jake's voice coming from the living room. She was prepared to go in there and urge him to come back to bed, but the scene in front of her caused her to think better of it. Jake was sitting on the couch, with Henry on his lap, and the two of them were watching a basketball game together on TV.

"That's called a double team," Jake explained to Henry softly, as he gestured towards the television screen. "It's when two players on one team guard one player on the other team. Get it?"

"I don't know…that sounds pretty complicated," Addison chuckled, causing her fiancé to look up in surprise.

"Hey, Sweetheart," Jake smiled. "Did we wake you?"

Addison shook her head. "No. Did Henry wake you?"

"No. I was up, so I figured I'd go check on him. I guess I got to him right as he was waking up…so I figured I'd bring him down here and watch some basketball with him so you could get some sleep."

Addison smiled, touched, but unsurprised by Jakes thoughtfulness. "Thanks," she said appreciatively. "So, who's playing?" she asked, doing her best to fake an interest in a sport that her fiancé and, by the looks of it, her son clearly loved.

"Oklahoma City and The Lakers," Jake chuckled.

"Seriously?" Addison asked in disbelief.

Jake nodded. "Okalahoma City's winning too," he grinned. "Henry and I are thrilled. Wait until I call Angela and tell her that the rookies are destroying the old guys."

Addison shot him a disapproving glare.

"I meant that hypothetically," Jake backpedaled.

"Jake."

"I won't call and tell her," Jake promised, leaning in and kissing his fiancée chastely.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Jake grinned. "Although, I can't speak for Henry," he teased.

Addison rolled her eyes. "I swear, if his first words are, 'Hey, Angela, guess what, Oklahoma City beat the Lakers,' I honestly don't know what I'll do."

"They won't be," Jake assured her. "His first word is going to be 'mama.'" He turned to Henry and smiled. "Isn't that right, Little Guy?"

"He's looking a lot better," Addison noted, gesturing towards her son.

"He is," Jake agreed, as he cuddled Henry close.

It was such a small, simple gesture, but it made Addison's heart melt. Jake had always been amazing with Henry but, lately, watching the two of them together seemed to put a permanent smile on her face.

"What?" Jake asked, when he looked up, and noticed that Addison was watching him intently, a wide smile on her face. "I'm pretty sure I don't have spit-up on my face," he chuckled, wiping his cheek with the back of his hand, just in case. He looked at Addison in confusion. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Addison smiled. "I'm just thinking."

"About what?" Jake asked curiously.

Addison bit her lip in thought. Truth be told, she was thinking about an incident that crossed her mind pretty frequently lately – a defining moment for her and Jake's relationship – the day she had defended Jake against Megan's accusations.

"_Megan, don't do this. Where's your husband? Is he out of town on business again? Is he ever here?" _

"_You don't know anything about me."_

"_Does he even want a baby?"_

"_Stop it. Stop it."_

"_I'm sorry…I'm so sorry that things have not turned out the way that you planned, but that does not give you the right to blame to one man who has tried to help you. You do not get to lie about him…not ever."_

Megan had claimed that Addison didn't get her…that she didn't know anything about her. But the sad truth was that Addison got Megan all too well. _Where's your husband? Is he ever here? – Derek. Does he even want a baby? – Sam._ She understood Megan. And what's more, she understood that if she had only done a couple of things differently – if she had chosen Sam instead of Jake – her life would have been Megan's life.

But it wasn't. Because she didn't just have one amazing guy in her life; she had two. And she was happy. Because, unlike Megan, whose life hadn't turned out the way she'd planned, her own life had turned out better than she could have ever imagined.

"Sweetheart," Jake pressed, ripping Addison from her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

Addison looked over at Jake and Henry and smiled. "Yeah," she nodded. "I was just thinking…we make a really good team, you and me."

"We do," Jake agreed, as he wrapped an arm around her, and kissed her softly. "And we make one hell of a family."

"Yeah," Addison smiled, blinking back the tears that were stinging her eyes. "You, me, and our son."

And even as the words were leaving her mouth, she couldn't help reflecting on how right it felt to say them – about how nothing had ever felt so right.

"I like the way that sounds," Jake admitted with a smile.

"Me too," Addison agreed, as she gently stroked Henry's tiny back.

Jake looked down at Henry, and smiled. "You know, I was wrong," he confessed after a moment.

Addison looked at her fiancé in confusion. "About what?"

"When we first met, I told you that I was going to give you a baby." He looked from Henry to Addison and smiled. "You should have been the one saying that to me."

"I, uh," Addison stammered, truly touched by Jake's words; happy tears pricking her eyes as she allowed everything that she and Jake had just said to sink in.

"Hey, Addison," Jake said, ripping Addison from her thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you…for giving me a baby."

Addison smiled, allowing herself to get lost in Jake's eyes. And just when she thought she couldn't love him any more than she already did, he proved her wrong.

"And not just a baby," he murmured, not breaking eye contact. "A family."


End file.
